According to the July issue of Monthly Champion Red, Eat-Man and Ray creator Akihito Yoshitomi's latest manga Blue Drop will be adapted into an anime. More info will be released in the August issue of Champion Red, on sale July 19th.

Source: ikimashou.net

From AoD comes a list of CPM titles that have received new release dates according to Amazon.com, MangaCast also has a report of the story.

Aachi & Ssipak is an animated film from Korea directed by Jo Beom-jin. Set in the future, the film tells the adventure of street hoodlums Aachi and Ssipak and their struggle to survive in the presence of a repressive government.

There are two screenings of Aachi & Ssipak at this year's New York Asian Film Festival:

AACHI & SSIPAK
(at the IFC Center, (323 Sixth Avenue, between 3rd and 4th Streets)
Saturday, June 30 @ 10:30pm
Wednesday, July 4 @ 5:15pm

NYAFF 2007 is giving away 2 pairs of tickets to 2 lucky winners, who will be able to choose either screening to attend. To enter the giveaway, simply send your name and email address to this email.

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From PWCW's Kai-Ming Cha comes Part 1 of an interview with Go! Comi founders Audrey Taylor and David Wise. Icarus Blog points out that Elfquest creator Wendi Pini's original project for Go! Comi will be a yaoi title.

Japan's first annual Manga Proficiency Test took place on June 17th in 40 locations nationwide. Over 600 people participated in the exam that tests one's ability to draw manga.

The test is divided into many categories and levels aimed at both beginners and professionals. There are 4 levels for the "General" category, 3 levels for "Manga Character," 3 levels for "Manga Story," 3 levels for "Manga-Drawing Technique" and 2 levels for "Manga Assistant."

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ICv2 has released the May 2007 top 100 graphic novel sales estimates and the top 300 comics sales estimates based on Diamond Indexes and Publisher Title Data. Also from ICv2 is an analysis of the trends in May based on the graphic novel sales chart.

Via: MangaBlog

ANN has a list of new titles from Tokyopop for the first half of 2008:

January 8th, 2008
- Aria by Kozue Amano
- Deja vu - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter by Byung-Jun Byun / In-Wan Youn
- Gakuen Alice by Tachibana Higuchi
- Harukaze Bitter Bop by Court Betten
- King City by Brandon Scott Graham
- The Knockout Makers by Kyouko Hashimoto
- Manga Sutra - Futari H by Katsu Aki
- Monochrome Factor by Kaili Sorano
- Short Sunzen! by Susugi Sakurai
- V.B. Rose by Banri Hidaka

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On June 7th, the Kyoto Prefecture local government identified 13 loli manga titles as "harmful books" for featuring excessive sexual content involving girls under the age of 13.

On June 15th, the prefecture's Commission on the Health and Growth of Youths announced the 13 titles that were investigated. The website Doujinshi Life and Culture General Research Center (via Icarus Blog) has a list the titles from Kyoto Shimbun and their respective publishers:

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From Papo de Budega comes an interview with Min-Woo Hyung, a well-known Korean manhwa artist, who talked about some of his well-known title and other projects.

Min Woo-Hyung is the author of Priest, a manhwa currently being released in America by Tokyopop and in Brazil by Lumus Publishing company.

The Star Online reports that in order to promote its the Ballon bleu de Cartier, the newest watch in Cartier's 2007 watch collection, Cartier has commissioned comic artists from around the world to create a comic that will "illustrate the birth of the Ballon bleu de Cartier."

The artists invited include: "Moebius (the pseudonym used by French artist Jean Giraud), Japanese manga artist Jir?? Taniguchi, British artist Glen Baxter, Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti, American Charles Burns, French artist Jean-Claude Floc???h and Belgian Fran??ois Schuiten."